Outside Yonghe Pass, ferries came one after another.
Throughout the day, the pier handled the docking of more than ten ships and unloaded nearly 3,000 grains and beans.
The Jinglue Army sent more than 2,000 people to garrison here and patrol around.
The Confucius who crossed the river from Yanzhou were divided into two groups, one to help unload the grain and the other to repair the dilapidated Guancheng.
The people of Yonghe County were also mobilized to transport grain and grass to Xizhou.
Now Xizhou is the logistics hub center of the entire Cixi Front, and various materials are transported here for storage before being transported to the front line.
Shao Chengjie stood on Yanshuiguan City on the west bank of the river, almost standing on tiptoes to look towards the east bank.
Outside Guancheng, the generals from Ma Zhi had already surrounded him tightly. Shao Zhiyan and the other three followed the prince and watched carefully.
They were worried that if the prince suddenly rose up, he would cross the river to the east and reach Yonghe County in Xizhou. Will they stop him at that time, or not?
"Look at your potential." Shao Chengjie turned around, looked at Shao Zhiyan, Shao Zhixing, and Shao Zhiwei with a smile, and said, "It's just a look at the mountains and rivers, but is it as if you are facing a formidable enemy?"
The three of them laughed at the same time.
Prince, if you want to cross the river, we are not really afraid. What we are afraid of is that you are crossing the river alone.
How long would it take for two thousand cavalry to cross the river without a pontoon bridge? Anyway, they couldn't complete the crossing in a day or two, and if something happened, there would be no time to respond.
"How do you feel about this battle between Lu Dutou and Kang Junli?" Shao Chengjie asked.
Shao Chengjie's military experience is not as rich as that of Shao Zhiyan and the others. This question seems a bit old-fashioned, but considering his status, it doesn't seem to matter.
"Your Majesty, Lu Dutou's victory in the battle was due to his cleverness and the strategy of luring the enemy deep into the enemy's territory. This has been practiced since ancient times. Li Chengsi was fooled and the whole army was wiped out. When the Jin army heard of their defeat, they retreated in fear. They all pursued it and recovered it.
Ci and Xizhou are inevitable." Shao Zhiwei said: "But whether the armies under Dutou's supervision can break through the stone tower and reach the front line of Pingguan is unknown."
"How do you say it?" Shao Chengjie was so excited that he asked someone to bring a map and conduct a deduction on the spot.
"What will happen if the bandits leave Shizhou and take a small road to attack Yongheguan Ferry?" Shao Zhiwei asked.
Shizhou's sneak attack on Yongheguan actually had to go south along the east bank of the Yellow River, and that was the only way to go.
The rivers in this area all run east-west, and the mountains mostly run east-west. There are no north-south roads. Only the area along the Yellow River can be passed. But the road has not been repaired, and the large infantry will definitely not be able to walk.
, only a small group of elite troops can sneak attack - there are reasons why the road is not built. One is to open the mountain, and the other is that even if the mountain is opened, it will be flooded by the river during the flood season, which is unnecessary.
"The Jinglue Army has more than 2,000 troops stationed at Yonghe Pass, and Xizhou also has 2,000 troops to support each other," Shao Chengjie said.
"The one hundred and forty miles between Yonghe Pass and Xizhou are all mountain roads. If the thieves followed the example of the Heiji Army, they would use mounted infantry to bypass Yonghe Pass without attacking, and instead specialize in ambushing Yonghe Pass and the grain road between Xizhou.
So what?" Shao Zhiwei's words were a bit aggressive: "On the plain, one hundred and forty miles is nothing. With cavalry patrolling, it is difficult for thieves to ambush, but Xizhou is different."
Shao Chengjie didn't care at all about Shao Zhiwei's tone and scolded him with a smile: "Aren't you going to be arrogant?"
"Your Majesty!" Shao Zhiwei's face straightened and he said: "In the past, I fought with the Uighurs in Shazhou. They liked cutting off the grain roads the most. They used all bad tricks and took advantage of any loopholes. There was no such thing as a war.
You don't have to go to any lengths to compete with each other, and if you reveal your flaws, it's your luck that others don't come to fight, but if they do, you'll be in trouble."
"Your words make sense." Shao Chengjie bowed and thanked him: "I will reward you with ten pieces of silverware when I go back."
Shao Zhiwei looked happy and thanked him repeatedly.
Shao Chengjie's face looked a little bad.
In fact, he is very competitive. He wants to surpass others in literature, martial arts, and marching and fighting...
In today's deduction, Shao Zhiwei got the upper hand, which made him somewhat unhappy. However, he quickly adjusted his mentality. From now on, Shao Zhiwei is his general, so he won't feel so uncomfortable.
But why can't we be the first in both civil and military skills and military strategy? Alas.
Boats on the river are still going back and forth.
Unknowingly, the logistics base of the Lu Huaizhong Group heading north had been transferred from Jiangzhou Longmen to Yonghe Pass.
****
After Zhou Dewei came out of the Dangerous Pass, he looked back at the majestic Guancheng.
The city is brightly lit, guarded with swords and guns, and there are many flags.
This is Taiyuan’s Dinghai Shenzhen.
After breaking through this place, conquer Gaobi Town again and then go straight to Queshu Valley. There are Lingshi in the valley and Jiexiu County can raise grain and grass. After leaving the valley, conquer Lengquan Pass again and suddenly reach the foot of Jinyang City.
These days, the area around Xiandiguan is not peaceful. Both sides continue to send troops to test the area, and the cloud of war still lingers.
Zhou Dewei didn't think it was a good idea to storm the fortress. There might not be any results even if there were heavy casualties, so why bother?
Tonight he led his troops out, not to attack the Xia people's heavily fortified Fenshui Pass, but to go straight to the southwest.
There were more than ten thousand troops, many chariots and horses. After leaving the customs, they headed west and disappeared into the mountains in a short while.
It's May, but the nights in the mountains are still a bit chilly.
Zhou Dewei stationed his horse in a stream, scooped out a ladle of water with a horse spoon, drank it happily, and said: "After fighting with the Xia people, I don't know when I will be dead."
"General, in the beautiful place east of Hedong, why are you afraid of what he will do? How can you turn over and cross the mountains?" the soldiers laughed.
"Aren't we just climbing over mountains and ridges?" Zhou Dewei asked rhetorically.
Everyone was speechless.
"Let's continue marching." Zhou Dewei stood up and said: "Sending troops this time is very different from fighting in Youzhou. The Xia people can fight. Once we are prepared, we will withdraw to preserve our strength."
"Shi Yan." Zhou Dewei said again.
"The end will be here." Shi Yan replied.
"You lead the cavalry and go first. The faster the better. I will give you all the extra horses." Zhou Dewei ordered.
"As ordered." Shi Yan took the order and left without any nonsense.
Three thousand riders rode all the way southwest, sleeping in the open air and riding non-stop.
Early in the morning on the third day of the Lunar New Year, Shi Yan led 500 pioneers to their destination, and under the cover of mist, they rushed into Pu County.
In fact, he doesn't have to be like this.
All the officials in Pu County fled as early as last month, and they have not been replaced yet. Now it is a state of complete anarchy.
Pu County is a county under Xizhou, located in the mountain valley south of Xichuan and east of Daning.
This county is sparsely populated and has few resources, so there is nothing special about it.
The only thing worthy of praise is probably that you go east from Madouguan Ferry, pass through Daning to Pu County, and then turn southeast to reach Linfen, Jinzhou. The whole journey is not easy to walk on the mountain road. Most people like to go from Longmen in the south.
Cross the river and go north via Jiangzhou to Jinzhou.
To the northeast of Pu County, there is a mountain road that has been in disrepair for a long time, leading directly to the dangerous pass.
The reason why this road is in disrepair is because no one uses it.
For commercial and personnel exchanges between Chang'an and Taiyuan, just cross the river at Pujin Pass.
For food transportation, just cross the river at Longmen.
All other roads are unnecessary. In the face of financial difficulties, won't they have to fall into disrepair and be gradually forgotten?
After Shi Yan arrived in Pu County, he immediately collected grain, grass, horses and mules, and at the same time sent scouts to search the mountains to detect the Xia army's movements.
He did not strike blindly.
His most important task was to wait for Zhou Dewei's main force to arrive in Pu County, and everything had to serve this purpose.
****
The offensive against Shilou County has officially begun.
The troops participating in the attack included 12,000 Wuwei troops, 2,000 Chishui troops, and more than 10,000 Xiangyong.
The Jinglue Army is maintaining the logistics road between Yonghe Pass and Xizhou.
Another 3,000-strong Chishui Army set up a stronghold at Huangshu Ridge to prevent enemies from attacking from the Ningxiang River Valley.
The Heiji Army is the only mobile reserve force stationed in Daning.
With such a division of troops, the siege force is actually not enough.
The morale of the Jin soldiers guarding the stone tower suddenly became very high. They fought desperately and were extremely brave.
After taking the prisoners and questioning them, it turned out that someone from above had come to supervise the battle, killed some generals who had been unfavorable in the early battles, and also gave rewards to the soldiers.
No wonder, no wonder!
Lu Huaizhong was determined to wait for the Jin soldiers to get over their anger, but his troops were relying on momentum all the way north, which was meaningless.
He personally went to the front of the battle line to supervise the battle.
More than 20,000 people surrounded the three towers. The Tutuan peasants fought bravely and attacked for four or five days without making any progress.
The Wuwei Army took the opportunity to defeat an enemy force that came from the direction of Shangpingguan and killed hundreds of thieves.
When the war reaches this point, anyone with a discerning eye can see that it has almost reached its limit.
You only have this few men to attack, and there are not as many men as the defenders. It is better to stop here, stock up on food and fodder, and think of other ways.
But Lu Huaizhong didn't say anything, and it was inconvenient for others to say anything. Anyway, the main casualties in the attack were Hezhong and Cixi Xiangyong, so just fight.
However, Chishui Army Commander Fan He couldn't help it anymore and said directly: "Du Tou, with just a few people, even if we capture Shilou, do we still have the strength to conquer Pingguan?"
In a siege battle, it is normal for the attacking side to pay more than three times as many casualties, and sometimes far more than that. There are many examples where the enemy failed to capture more than ten times as many casualties.
Is it cost-effective to force Shilou County to eat? This is a very real question.
"Dutou!" Fan He said anxiously.
From the beginning of the Battle of Heqing, Lu Huaizhong liked to attack cities by force. He felt that he was addicted to fighting. In order to show off the prowess of his troops, he completely ignored the casualties.
Fan He wanted to say that when he attacked Yuxiang. If Li Diancheng's men weren't full of rabble-rousers who just want to make money, you wouldn't be able to capture the city of Yuxiang even if you wiped out all 30,000 powerful troops.
In the end, five thousand soldiers from all the armies that besieged the city died. The Tutuan countrymen had no calculation and allowed Li Diancheng's army of more than ten thousand people to be wiped out.
Taking down a city defended by more than 10,000 people with a few thousand casualties is a glorious victory, but you definitely don’t want to repeat such a victory many times.
"No fight!" Fan He was about to remonstrate, but saw Lu Huaizhong wave his hand and said: "You are right, even if we kill all 20,000 or 30,000 of us, we will not be able to capture the stone tower. We still have to lure the enemy out to fight in the field.
, gather together and annihilate them.”
"I will tell your highness that the war can be fought now. We have killed tens of thousands of thieves and recovered two states. The Jin people must have become frightened." Lu Huaizhong sighed and said: "Let's retreat now. Let's see how dare the Jin thieves dare.
I don’t dare to catch up. If I dare to come, I’m afraid I’ll wake up laughing even in my dream.”